Four children were among the dead. The airliner crashed when trying to land a second time during bad weather and went into a dive.

Both black boxes have been retrieved and have been sent to Moscow for anaylsis.

Tragedy: All of the 55 passengers and crew members were killed (Image: Reuters)

Bad weather: It is understood the airliner had made two attempts to land in stormy conditions (Image: Reuters)

Flydubai has promised to carry out a swift investigation into what happened and has pledged: "We will do everything we can to help those affected in this accident."

The authorities of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have set up a commission of inquiry and appointed a team of 50 people to investigate.

Terrorism: A terrorist attack was ruled out as the cause of the crash (Image: Reuters)

The lack of visibility caused by dense fog, heavy rain and strong wind could be the causes of the accident. A possible terrorist attack has been ruled out.

The latest statement from Flydubai said: "At present, our priority is to identify and contact the families of those lost in today’s tragic accident and provide immediate support to those affected.

Earlier, chief executive officer Ghaith Al Ghaith said: "On behalf of everyone at flydubai, I would like to express the devastation we all feel in relation to this morning’s tragic events in Rostov-on-Don. Our primary concern is for the passengers and crew involved at this tragic time. Everyone in our company is in deep shock and our hearts go out to all loved ones of those involved."

Governor of Rostov region Vassily Golubev talks to the media in a terminal of Rostov-on-Don airport (Image: EPA/MAXIM ROMANOV)

Passengers: It is understood 44 Russians were among the passengers killed in the disaster (Image: EPA/MAXIM ROMANOV)

Flydubai will additionally organise a programme of hardship payments to the families amounting to USD 20,000 per passenger, in accordance with our Conditions of Carriage, with the aim of addressing immediate financial needs."

It said in a statement that there were 44 Russians among the 55 passengers, eight Ukrainians, two Indians and one Uzbek.

LifeNews reports citizens of Cyprus, Colombia, Spain and the Seychelles were among the crew members.

The captain has been named as Cypriot Aristos Socratous, while the co-pilot was a Spanish man named Alejandro Álava Cruz.

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Ghaith Al-Ghaith, CEO of Flydubai, has excluded the possibility of a terror act on ill-fated flight FZ981. He said no distress signal had been issued by the pilots either, Russia Today reported.

Al-Ghaith insists the captain was a highly experienced pilot with over 5,700 flight hours and that the plane was new. Manufactured in 2011, the aircraft passed its latest maintenance on January 21, 2016.

In a seven minute conversation posted on YouTube by local news website DonDay , the pilot can be heard repeatedly asking if there is any improvement in the conditions or if there is any warning.

In the audio, the voice of the plane's captain, Cypriot Aristos Socratous, and the co-pilot, Spaniard Alejandro Álava Cruz, can be heard as they try to discover from air traffic controllers whether it is safe to land.

The conversation is in English and Russian and indicates their concern about the weather conditions and visibility.